American Studies at the University of Kansas offers an interdisciplinary program in which faculty and students think critically about the many institutional and cultural meanings of America, popular culture, society and identity. Through studying topics such as film, jazz, literature, visual culture, gender, race and religion, American Studies investigates America in the present and the past, beyond both disciplinary and national boundaries. Given our recognition of the critical impact of difference and power in American life, we insist that a student's program of study consider the profound impact of diversity on society and address differential power structures in American life and social relations. Motivated advanced students have the opportunity to work independently on research and service projects.
American Studies selected to host two featured speakers for the 2010 Commons University Lecture Series: “Writing Jazz”
American Studies will host two of the three featured speakers who will participate in the 2010 University Lecture Series at The Commons. The theme for this year’s series is “Writing Jazz.”
On February 25, 2010, American Studies and English will co-host a lecture by Fred Moten, Associate Professor of the Department of English at Duke University, and author of In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition (University of Minnesota Press, 2003). http://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/English/fmoten
On March 9th, American Studies will host Tammy Kernodle, Associate Professor of Musicology at University of Miami, Ohio, and author of Soul on Soul: the Music and Life of Mary Lou Williams. http://arts.muohio.edu/music/people/faculty-listing-bios/tammy-kernodle. Dr. Kernodle’s talk will is entitled, ““Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit: Constructing Black Women’s Conversion Narratives in Jazz”
The University Lecture Series at The Commons is sponsored by the University of Kansas Honors Program in association with The Commons, a partnership among the Biodiversity Institute, the Hall Center for the Humanities, and the Spencer Museum of Art. The Commons fosters the exploration of nature and culture across the sciences, arts, and humanities
LAWRENCE — Four University of Kansas students are competing for prestigious Rhodes, Marshall and Mitchell scholarships, which provide for graduate study in Great Britain, Ireland or Northern Ireland.
Thirty-two Rhodes scholarships are awarded annually among 16 U.S. districts; up to 40 Marshall scholarships are awarded in eight U.S. regions; and 12 Mitchell scholarships are awarded throughout the United States.
KU students have won 25 Rhodes scholarships since 1904, more than all other Kansas colleges and universities combined, and nine Marshall scholarships since 1965.
Rhodes scholarships were first offered in 1903, the Marshalls in 1953. The Mitchell scholarships were established in 1998 by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to educating Americans about Ireland, and first awarded in 2001. Rhodes scholarships may be used only at Oxford University; Marshall scholarships at any British university. Mitchell scholarships may be used at colleges and universities in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Rhodes competitions take place Nov. 20 and 21. If invited, KU nominees will interview in Kansas City, Mo., alongside competitors from a district that includes Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Mississippi. Two winners are selected from each district immediately following the Nov. 21 interviews by the Rhodes Foundation. Separate state interviews are no longer conducted.
Marshall scholarship winners will be selected following regional interviews for finalists Nov. 9 and 16. If selected as finalists, KU nominees will travel to Chicago along with other competitors from Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Winners are asked to accept or decline the offer within 12 days.
The George J. Mitchell Scholars Program selects and announces its winners Nov. 25. The program will select semifinalists for interviews during the week of Oct. 25, and the finalists will be interviewed Nov. 20 and 21.
KU students are nominated by faculty and staff. Final nominees are selected through University Honors Program faculty and staff.
Samuel Walton Atherton, a senior from Overland Park majoring in history, is competing for a Mitchell scholarship.
Earl Holmes Brooks, a senior from Topeka majoring in American studies and music, is competing for Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.
Amanda M. Shriwise, a senior from Overland Park majoring in dance and economics, is competing for a Marshall scholarship.
Brenna Mae Thompson Daldorph, a senior from Lawrence in news journalism and French, is competing for Rhodes and Marshall scholarships
SHAWNEE COUNTY
From Topeka 66605
Earl Holmes Brooks
Earl Holmes Brooks plans a career teaching American music and culture at the university level. He is a first-generation college student who attributes a chance encounter with acclaimed jazz musician Wynton Marsalis as his inspiration to attend college. While in Topeka for a concert, Marsalis visited Highland Park High School and stopped to hear a jazz band rehearsal. Brooks was playing saxophone. Marsalis stopped the music with questions about Brooks’ performance. Later, he counseled Brooks not only to learn music but also the history of jazz and its links to African-American culture. At KU, Brooks has conducted two undergraduate research studies related to jazz, one with a research award from the McNair Scholars Program, a federal program to prepare first-generation and underrepresented minority students planning to pursue doctorates (Brooks entered KU as a McNair scholar). Last spring, he was a keynote speaker at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Brooks says he has discovered that jazz studies are inextricably linked to his expanding interest in social movements of civil rights era that shaped popular culture and music. He wants to become a scholar “who uses his work to change how people think about the past so that the current issues we face in society can be better understood.” He regularly gives talks on jazz to inner-city students in KU’s Upward Bound Program and music lessons to students in his Topeka neighborhood. He was selected for the Dean’s Scholars Program, one of only 10 students to be admitted, and is a 2009 Hall Center for the Humanities Scholar. He was vice president of the Black Student Union and is president of Black Men Today, an organization with the goal of educating the university community on the issues facing African-American men. He is a member of three national honor societies including Phi Kappa Phi. With a Marshall scholarship he could pursue a master’s degree in trans-Atlantic studies and cultural inquiry at the University of Birmingham or master’s degrees in American literature and globalization, ethnicity and culture at the University of Sussex in Brighton. With a Rhodes scholarship, he could pursue a graduate degree in English and American studies at Oxford University. He is the son of Earl and Vanessa Brooks and is a Highland Park High School graduate.
MAASA 2010 Conference
The Mid-America American Studies Association is coming to the Oread Conference Center on the KU campus
March 25-27, 2010
Help us celebrate 50 years of the MAASA journal American Studies, and commemorate the retirement of Professor David Katzman
“Studying 'America?' Critical Conjunctures for the 21st Century"
In 2010, MAASA will mark the 50th anniversary of American Studies with a conference examining generative moments and regenerative possibilities in scholarship about culture and society in the U.S. This milestone arrives at a time of economic upheaval and self-reflection not only for the U.S. as a nation among other nations, but also for educational institutions and individual departments. Thus, this anniversary provides an opportunity to critically examine American Studies and American Studies as sites for producing ideas about what it means to study America: What is “American Studies” eliding or omitting as it constructs “America” as an object of inquiry? What does it privilege? As departments and institutions downsize, expand, and rethink their missions, questions about the purpose and possibilities of interdisciplinary inquiry become critical. Taking the archive represented by fifty years of American Studies as a starting point—but not an endpoint—we hope to thoughtfully investigate the political, cultural, and economic ramifications attending current and past paradigms for studying “America.”
We seek panels, workshops, discussions, or other forms of creative expression that may address the conference themes by 1) investigating past, present, and potential paradigms of interdisciplinary work in publications, in the academy, in the media, in public performances, and in the community or 2) modeling the variety of contemporary ways of engaging the study of America.
Some questions that participants might address include
We seek participants from beyond the region and from programs, groups, and institutions that may not currently identify as “American Studies.” Selected conference papers may be chosen for inclusion in a themed issue of American Studies.
Proposals are due on or before December 15, 2009. Proposals for complete panels/discussions are preferred over individual submissions. Panel proposals should include 1) session title, 2) session abstract (250 words or less), 3) titles of individual papers, 4) abstracts of individual papers (250 words or less), and 5) information for each participant (name, contact information, affiliation, 1-page CV). Proposals for discussions or creative presentations should include 1) Session title; 2) session abstract (500 words or less), and 3) information for each participant (name, contact information, affiliation, 1-page CV). Proposals should be submitted electronically via the MAASA website at http://www.uiowa.edu/~maasa/
KU Women of Distinction '09-10
My most meaningful achievement was receiving my B.G.S. degree in Sociology. Throughout the pursuit of my degree, I worked full-time at KU and raised two wonderful children, Lacey and Nicholas. Although it took twenty-five years to earn my degree, it was important for me to persist. This perseverance set an example of hard work and determination for my children. I was extremely proud as I walked across the stage at the Lied Center to have my children and family members present. When my daughter received her B.S. in Elementary Education last fall, I was reminded of the importance and rewards of my struggles.
My parents have always believed in me. They taught me the importance of hard work to achieve my goals. They also stressed the importance of family and friends to help me reach my goals and celebrate my success.
I would like to thank my husband, Allen, and children, Lacey and Nicholas, for allowing me to divide my time between school, work and family. Without their love, encouragement and understanding, I could not have juggled such a busy schedule. My best friend, Lori Stephens, has always been there to listen, even when time and distance have separated us. Professor Sandi Albrecht had a major impact on my academic career. After taking the Sociology of Sex Roles class from her, I decided to become a sociology major. Her knowledge, enthusiasm and concern for student success guided me as a non-traditional student to complete my degree, often by taking one course per semester. Professors David Katzman, Norm Yetman and Cheryl Lester as Directors of the American Studies Program, have been eternal sources of encouragement during my career as Office Manager. The community atmosphere in the office strengthens the support from faculty and students for daily success.
I will always remember Professor Norm Yetman serenading the staff of American Studies and Women's Studies from his office as Director.
Trust in yourself and value the relationships you develop at work and with family and friends.
She should not be afraid of failure and should not be afraid to ask questions.
"Don't brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!" The Tortoise and The Hare, accurately describes my academic career.
Flores named National Academy of Education fellow
Ruben Flores, assistant professor of American studies, has been chosen as a 2009-10 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow. The fellowship award of $55,000 is intended to assist with the fellow’s salary replacement and research expenses for the fellowship period. Flores was one of 20 fellows selected from more than 150 applicants.
The fellowships are administered to scholars of education. In its 23rd year, the fellowship program has more than 600 alumni, including many notable education researchers.
"Forging an American Pluralism: The Mexican Revolution and American Civil RIghts,” Ruben Flores, University of Kansas September 14, 2009 @ 11:30 am Kansas Union, Alcove E (Free and Open to the Public)
|
|
news |
Deanell Reece Tacha receives Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award for 2009 Federal appellate judge, U.S. Court of Appeals
Anecdote: Tacha believes the only way to a humane future is through civil discourse and tolerant listening. “My only advice is: take the courses that are hardest, listen carefully to all viewpoints, integrate and examine every position, and speak in measured, thoughtful, constructive, and respectful tones. Treasure the past and nurture the future. In other words, be for another generation what Emily Taylor, Norman Yetman and Chancellor Franklin Murphy were for me. That is my KU.” Quote: Tacha says she had no idea when she decided to major in American studies how important that interdisciplinary approach would be in her career path. “In many ways, the job of being a judge is the ultimate interdisciplinary job. Every case requires us to learn about something new that inevitably intersects disciplines. My American studies courses made me look beyond the confi nes of one particular discipline and consider information and engage in an analysis in light of a host of different sources.” |
KU degree: Bachelor’s in American studies Background: Tacha graduated in the top 10 percent of her high school class—of 10 students—and has continued to impress ever since. After working in Washington, D.C., she joined the KU School of Law faculty in 1974, becoming associate dean of the law school and eventually vice chancellor for academic affairs. She was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in 1985. Tacha has served as a National Trustee of the American Inns of Court Foundation, past chair of the Appellate Judges Conference and a past chair of the national board of directors of the KU Alumni Association.